


Ao

by seagrot



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 04:37:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16234346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seagrot/pseuds/seagrot
Summary: Something about green eyes always took him off guard.





	Ao

Something about green eyes always took him off guard.

Blue was familiar, bittersweet, nostalgic. Brown was comforting and safe. Green filled him with a mix of interest and dread and something he didn't have the words for. Jealousy? Frustration? Admiration?

Maybe it was because green clashed with his own red so jarringly. Maybe it was because it reminded him of the harsh glow of monitors and stasis fluid. Maybe—

“Maybe it’s because you're head-over-heels and too stubborn to admit it.”

Rouge's blue-green brought him back to reality. Shadow relaxed his brow, feeling all at once the strain of furrowing it.

“Hey, were you zoning out _again_? I need to start charging for this.”

“You're the one who brought me out here.” A half-truth, in that he knew Rouge would've left him alone if he'd actually refused.

Rouge snorted. “Please, your mopey puppy eyes were practically begging for a distraction.”

Shadow considered retorting, but she was right, and she knew it. Not that he'd give her the satisfaction of hearing it from him.

“Look, I don't care what you end up saying to him. But do it or don't, and be done with it.” Her words were harsher than her tone, and punctuated with a slurp of iced coffee.

“You've been leading Knuckles on for years,” he replied, with more annoyance than intended. If she took offense, it didn't show.

“I flirt. It's what I _do_. Lovesickness doesn't suit you.”

He wanted to argue. Something like, _what would you know about how I feel? How could you understand what's happening in my head when even I don’t?_ But he knew the answers to those questions already, so he let the thought pass and let the murmurs of the crowded coffee shop overtake their silence.

The outing passed in relative quiet from that point, with Shadow gazing off at nothing in particular, forcing his mind blank to keep it from racing. Rouge sighed occasionally as she idly stirred the ice cubes in her drink until they melted into the mix.

“I'm texting him,” she announced abruptly, startling Shadow out of a daze just quickly enough he was able to grab his phone before she could.

“Let go. Use your own phone,” he said, trying to pry her fingers away and drag the device out of her grasp.

“Good idea,” she replied with a smirk. Rouge didn't let up her grip; rather, she tightened her hands around the phone and used her free hand to start dialing someone.

“I wasn't—no, stop, Rouge!” Shadow pulled his phone away from her just as the ringing stopped.

“Yeeello,” called the voice on the other end, loud enough for them both to hear. Sonic. _Of_ course _she put it on speaker phone._

“Heeey, big blue!” Rouge said, batting her eyes seductively as if he could see her. “You busy?”

“Uh, probably? Who wants to know?”

“Well, it just so ha—hey, Shadow!”

Shadow was already gone, his drink left untouched on their table

**Author's Note:**

> i put off posting this for months because i convinced myself id continue it but i did not. so here it is! shadow is a disaster and i love him!


End file.
